


Goddesses&Kings

by Doodsxd



Series: Humans, Heros, Monsters, And Everything In Between [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, BAMF Steve Harrington, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fate & Destiny, Fights, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Healthy Relationships, Inaccurate Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Kidnapping, Kings & Queens, Light Angst, M/M, Miscommunication, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Mpreg, Mystery, Persephone Goes Willingly With Hades (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Protective Joyce Byers, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Rescue Missions, Romantic Fluff, Superpowers, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:35:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22403506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodsxd/pseuds/Doodsxd
Summary: “I want to talk about Billy.”Right. Straight to the point. “What about him?”“Something has been trying to severe your connection to him.” The girl announced, as if it was a normal thing to say, like I saw a butterfly today.“He’s been doing that pretty well on his own. I don’t think he needs any help.”“No.” She touched Steve’s hand to get his attention. “Something.”“You mean, like…”“I think you would call it magic.” The girl revealed calmly.He’s not on his own, though.” Steve reminded her. “Neither is he as powerful as you.”“No,” El agreed. “But the thing that wants him will make him vulnerable if we let it. And he… is special.”“Why?”“Because of the darkness he carries.” Her announcement was not surprising. “And the light.”He was suddenly very tired, unsure of the why. El guided him to lay down on the big bed, and Steve was so tired, so sleepy, that he went down easily.“You are the light, Steve,”
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Hades/Persephone
Series: Humans, Heros, Monsters, And Everything In Between [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568416
Comments: 12
Kudos: 140





	Goddesses&Kings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,  
> No need to mention this got away from me.   
> Fingers crossed that you enjoy it anyway  
> :3

_“And your love is written in letters of light all_   
_over the sheer fabric of my soul,_   
_engraved like an ancient inscription all over the_   
_crumbling walls of my heart,_   
_too sacred to be touched by time,_   
_too old to be erased or forgotten.”_

_Jihad Mahmoud_

The fight had been stupid. 

_ “Whatcha doin’ there, pretty boy?” Billy looked behind Steve’s shoulder in the kitchen.  _

_ “Cooking.” _

_ “Smells good.”  _

_ Steve smiled as Billy kissed his shoulder. “Bought some gouda today.” _

_ “Gouda?” Billy started to frown. “Ain’t that the expensive type?”  _

_ “Yeah…” Steve admitted. “But I got it on discount. Expiration date is near, so I just got a little bit for today’s dinner.” They had been in a bit of a tight situation with money, but it wasn’t that bad yet.  _

_ Billy exhaled slowly. “Steve, we talked about this-”  _

_ “It’s just a little piece of  _ cheese _ , Billy.” He justified himself. “We deserve it, from time to time.”  _

_ “We may deserve it, but we sure ain’t got the money for it.” Billy’s mood had shifted. It had been doing it a lot lately, changing like a storm that came and went for no particular reason. “Unless you’ve been kissing daddy’s ass for money again.”  _

_ It was time for Steve’s face to close. “I  _ borrowed  _ that money to fix my car. Could’a gotten it from Hopper or Joyce, too, I just didn’t wanna burden them. You  _ know _ this.”  _

_ “What I  _ know _ ,” He was already almost yelling. “Is that it’s been real comfy for you, cause instead of saving money you go around acting like you have a bank at your beck and call.” Billy huffed. “You can’t depend on him forever, Steve. It’ like you never left his house in the first place, buying  _ gouda _ and all this shit.”  _

_ “I  _ borrowed _ some money to fix my car! What part of that don’t you understand?”  _

_ “What I don’t  _ understand _ is how do you  _ still _ not understand how the world works, Steve. What are you going to do once you don’t have daddy to bail you out for money anymore, huh?”  _

_ “For fuck’s sake, it was a fucking piece of cheese on discount, you asshole! I have been paying bills around here too, you know? I  _ know  _ we can’t afford fancy things, I just thought it was a good opportunity to eat something more than noodles once in a while!” _

_ “Well, that’s how poor people live, pretty boy! I know the real world doesn’t fit in your happily ever after vision of life, but the truth is that we live on noodles, we work ‘til we die and faggots like us don’t ever get the other person’s health insurance!”  _

_ Steve could feel his eyes filling with tears, but refused to shed them. “What do you want from me, Billy?”  _

_ “Nothin’, Steve, nothin’.” He grabbed his jacket even though he just got home. “Enjoy your cheese.”  _

_ He left slamming the front door.  _

_ Steve sagged sitting on a kitchen chair, burying his face on his hands.  _

The fight had been stupid, but it had been the same one for eight months, on and off. 

And now, Billy was missing. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Steve waited the night. He waited until it was time for Billy to come home again. When nothing came up, he started to get a little desperate. 

He called Billy’s work and apparently, he hadn’t been back. Then he called some of his friends, both from work and MIT, and none of them knew of him. 

Finally, when he was already giving up hope, he received a call -- from Hawkins. 

“Hey,” It was Max’s voice on the other side of the line. “I just wanted to tell you that Billy’s here. He asked not to tell you, but I thought you’d be worried.” 

“Yeah,” Steve couldn’t even mask the tone of his voice. He knew he was wrecked, and he sounded it, too. “Yeah, thanks for calling, Max.”

“Did… did something happen? Between you two?” 

He rubbed his face. “I’m not sure.” 

She hesitated on the other side of the line. “Okay. Just… are you coming to Hawkins, too?” 

He  _ hated _ that she sounded so afraid. 

“I’m not sure.” 

He could almost see her nodding. “Okay. Take care, Steve.” 

A voice came faintly from the other side of the line, saying  _ who you talking to? _ Steve still heard her say before the line got disconnected. 

He threw the phone at the wall, and then spent the rest of the night trying to put it back together. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Steve drove to Hawkins. He got his things, packed his car, and went. Every bill paid, every loose end tied. 

He was  _ not _ going back to Massachusetts. 

______________________________________________________________________________

When somebody knocked at his motel room, Steve at first thought it was strange - room service had already been there, so it wasn’t them - but then, when he saw the face waiting for him beyond the door, he remembered. 

It was  _ Hawkins _ , after all. Place where stranger things than anybody had ever seen came to hang out. 

“I would say I am not strange, but that would be a lie.” El told him as a way of greeting. 

“And friends don’t lie.” Steve repeated and let her in, sighing. “Does your dad know you’re here?” 

“I left him a note.” At Steve’s pointed look, she corrected herself. “A  _ written _ note.” 

Satisfied, Steve looked around. There wasn’t much to do. “Wanna sit?” 

“I want to talk about Billy.” 

Right. Straight to the point. “What about him?” 

“Something has been trying to severe your connection to him.” The girl announced, as if it was a normal thing to say, like  _ I saw a butterfly today _ . 

“He’s been doing that pretty well on his own. I don’t think he needs any help.”

“No.” She touched Steve’s hand to get his attention. “ _ Something _ .”

“You mean, like…” 

“I think you would call it magic.” The girl revealed calmly. “I have been trying to fight it, but it was too far away. So I put the idea on Billy for him to come here.”

Steve rubbed his face vigorously with his hands. “You could’a called.”

“I did.” El insisted. “He would not hear me.”

Steve was reminded of the calls Billy had been getting, when he had been almost monosyllabic in his answers and never revealed who it was. Steve hadn’t fought him because he felt guilty of doubting Billy, and he was glad he had been right and Billy wasn’t cheating on him, after all. 

“Steve,” The girl’s big brown eyes fixed on him and Steve had no fucking idea of what to say. They were like a black lake waiting to swallow him. “You have done enough. Let me help, now.” 

He didn’t want to ponder, especially in front of such a young girl, but it was impossible. “Maybe it’s better this way.” 

“Without you, he is vulnerable.” Eleven reported, looking very serious. “Like I am vulnerable on my own, too.” 

Steve thought of what the girl could do. What her Papa had trained her to do, even though she didn’t want to. How, now, she obeyed Hopper (sometimes), but out of love instead of fear or lack of options. Loneliness made her vulnerable for sure -- she was a sword that anyone could point at anything if she had no one to protect. She had to be always facing the threats to her loved ones knowing they were right behind her. 

“He’s not on his own, though.” Steve reminded her. “Neither is he as powerful as you.”

“No,” El agreed. “But the thing that wants him will make him vulnerable if we let it. And he… is special.” 

“Why?” 

“Because of the darkness he carries.” Her announcement was not surprising. “And the light.” 

He was suddenly very tired, unsure of the why. El guided him to lay down on the big bed, and Steve was  _ so  _ tired,  _ so _ sleepy, that he went down easily. 

“You are the light, Steve,” She said, but he was already too far gone into sleep to properly make a memory out of the scene. 

He just shut his eyes and went down. 

_____________________________________________________________________

He could hear water falling on stone. He could hear a dog huffing. He could feel a cold breeze passing through him. 

Then, nothing. 

____________________________________________________________________

_“Waited so long_   
_for fruit, mama_   
_I found it ripe_   
_between antlered thighs_   
_in the fields my_   
_skull was a crown_   
_set on foundations_   
_of desire he_   
_was my first_   
_act of godhood_   
_body resurrected from un_   
_-speakable places to_   
_be mine_   
_Mama I did_   
_not forget sweat_   
_from my palms_   
_washed_   
_the animal of_   
_him marble_   
_the way you_   
_taught me_   
_to cradle wounded_   
_things_   
_cleaned those_   
_bones with my own_   
_good mouth_   
_his_   
_fingers_   
_wingspan_   
_my jaw open_

this  
is how  
you break the earth  
for desire

_Beneath dirt_   
_my skin blooms_   
_nightshade oh_   
_mama we_   
_are luminary doves_   
_where nothing_   
_flies his_   
_hair river_   
_reeds full_   
_moon every night_   
_he coaxes_   
_spring_

_from inside me”_

_~natalie wee_

Steve woke up in a cave, a body by his side -- Will Byers, he recognized. Every wall was grey stone, water dripping from somewhere up, where the light came from, too. Steve couldn’t make out much, and he couldn’t exactly stand, so he contented himself with sitting up. 

“Will?” He shook the boy a little. 

He sat up, blinking wearily. “Where are we?” 

“I don’t know.” Steve answered. “But I think El put us here.” 

“Oh.” He was moving slowly, calm. “Yes, she was the last person I saw before falling asleep.” 

Steve looked around. “We gotta get out of here.” 

Will frowned. “Why?” 

“What do you mean,  _ why _ ?” It was Steve’s time to look confused. “We’re inside a  _ cave _ , we don’t know where we are, and we didn’t come here willingly.” 

“Well, yeah,” Will hugged his knees. “But it was El who put us here.” 

“So?”

“I trust her.” The boy shrugged. “Whatever reason she had, I’m sure it’s a good one. I think we should wait for her here.” 

Steve was… astounded. Those kids were so beyond normal, he didn’t even know how to explain. 

“What if she’s possessed?” 

“Not possible.” Will shrugged again. “Come on, Steve. Don’t you trust her?” 

He shut his eyes, rubbed his face. “I do, but-” 

“Hey, look!” Will looked excited. 

When Steve opened his eyes, though, it wasn’t excitement that he felt. 

It was  _ dread _ . 

“What the…?” He blinked once, and twice, because flowers had just bloomed  _ from stone _ around them. 

_________________________________________________________________________

“What the hell is happening?” He asked after the flowers overtook every plane surface around them. 

“No idea.” Will admitted. “But I would say one of us is doing it.” He looked around. “I don’t see or feel anybody else here.” 

“This isn’t… this  _ can’t- _ ” But Steve had seen enough to know that, actually, it could. Anything could. Because life, especially when it came to Hawkins, was exactly like that. “ _ Damn. _ ” He rubbed his face vigorously. “This is all  _ insane.”  _

“At this point, what isn’t?” Was Will’s simple response. Then he narrowed his eyes. “What do you think those flowers are?” 

“Narcissus.” Steve answered immediately, automatic. 

“How do you know that?” 

“I’m… not sure.” He admitted, looking around. “I just always liked it. I guess it’s my favorite flower, if you could say I have a favorite.” 

Will arched one eyebrow. “So your favorite flower is growing all around us and you don’t think there’s anything to do with you?” 

Steve let his eyes widen. “Shit.” 

Shitfuck. Will was right. 

“Usually stuff like this doesn’t happen  _ to me _ , though.” He hugged his own knees like a toddler. “It happens to  _ you _ , or to El.”

“I guess it’s your turn, Steve.” Will shrugged. “At least you’re not alone.” 

“I’d rather be alone and have you safe, though.” 

Will chuckled. “I don’t think there’s an option on this.” Then he put his weigh forward, fingers reaching out to touch one of the flowers. “What happens if we-?” 

“Don’t touch that!” Steve tried to reach forward and make him stop doing  _ stupid things, those stupid fucker kids _ , but he fell forward and his hand caught in a flower on the floor, making him pluck it without meaning it. 

They both stared at it for a moment. 

“ _ Fuck _ .” Steve watched, and watched, and  _ watched _ , as the  _ ground opened up underneath them _ , cave shaking and trembling. 

The last thing Steve remembered was falling, even before he was able to reach Will. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Steve woke up on a throne. 

It was sort of dark, but he only had to blink a couple of times before his eyes adjusted. 

And he was, in fact, sitting on a throne. 

“Looking good in there, pretty boy.” A voice called him, making him shift focus pretty quickly. 

“Billy?” He blinked blearily, still half asleep - or passed out. At this point, the distinction was almost null, since he didn’t  _ mean _ to fall asleep  _ or  _ pass out, anyway. 

“Not yet.” It looked like Billy, but it certainly didn’t feel like him. Steve could tell with only a glance. 

“Where is Will?” Steve demanded, but remained unable to stand up from the stone seat. 

“Safe and sound. He is my little… guarantee, let’s say.” He shrugged. The figure walked slowly around the little underground lake, which Steve just noticed, glowed a little. 

“This looks like a bad Disney princess movie.” He rolled his eyes, but took his time looking around. “Why am I here, then?” 

“You’re my trading coin.” The guy moved, shifted, his form nothing more than a blur, somehow. He didn’t seem solid at all. 

“For  _ what _ , exactly?” He was being kidnapped, fuck it all. He was gonna  _ rip _ somebody’s throat. 

“Have you ever looked at him and saw… something? Like, a glow, or something that looked  _ supernatural _ , somehow?” The guy strutted around the room. “Godly, even?”

Steve didn’t need any more explanation than that. It hurt in more ways than one. First because it was always other, and not him, with the coveted power; then because Steve was always thought to be defenseless. He was always thought to be a  _ trading coin _ for somebody. 

“You want him, then.” Steve decided, feeling the shadows shift around him. A narcissus blooming between his fingers from the throwne’s arm rest. 

The Billy-shaped figure took it all in, smiling. “Yes. And he will come to you, him and that little girl of his.” He chuckled. “He has no idea what he’s been siding with. And neither do you, apparently.” 

He felt an urge to growl. “Fuck you.” 

The figure smiled. “Sleep, princess.” His voice a rumble through him, echoing something in his guts, making him immediately sleepy, as if that stranger could talk his cells into being tired. “Sleep.” 

Steve did. 

____________________________________________________________________--

_ Steve? _

El? Where are you?

_ Steve, you have to think. Why do you grow narcissus?  _

El, please, stop talking in riddles. Are you with Billy?

_ Think, Steve. Why are you so angry when others call you princess? _

Because I am not one.

_ Why? _

What do you mean, why? I’m just not.

_ Why, Steve? Why? _

**_Because I am no second in command_ ** . He felt something stir inside of him. He felt it like his heart had been caged into glass his whole life, and now it was shattering. 

_ Yes, you are not. _ El’s voice agreed.  _ But why? Why aren’t you a princess, Steve? _

**_Because-_ **

______________________________________________________________________

He woke up sitting in the same throwne as before; just now Will was asleep by his feet. 

Steve stood up, kneeling beside him to shake the boy. Will woke up slowly, eyes searching for whoever broke his sleep and finding Steve with a peaceful semblant that the older boy had never seen in anybody. 

“You’re wearing a crown,” The boy noticed, making Steve touch his head, feeling not metal, like he expected, but instead branches and twigs. 

He tried to take it off, to no avail. So Steve shifted to look his reflection in the mirror of water from the pond in the middle of the room - and sure enough, a crown of flowers imposed itself on his head. Narcissus, all of them. 

“Alright, kid, search your nerdy brain for an answer there because I have nothing.” Steve asked Will, helping him stand up. “We’re in a cave, there’s a lake, I’m wearing a crown made of narcissus flowers. Does it ring any bells?”

Will shrugged. “No.” 

“Damn it.” Steve cursed, agitated. He wasn’t just angry, or confused, or even frustrated, though. 

He felt an itch. 

“Did El ever told you how does it feel when she uses her powers?” Steve blurted out, scratching his hands, his feet. Taking off his shoes felt the most natural thing to do; electricity rang through his spine once his bare feet touched cold stone. He smelled fruit and wet fur, but couldn’t place it. 

“She says it feels like an itch that she wants to scratch.” Will was observing Steve as if he had grown another head. “Are you OK?” 

“I don’t think so, no.” Steve admitted, pacing. Took off his shirt, suddenly feeling like the cotton mix was way too heavy, to hot, to sit on his skin like that. “I feel an itch.”

“Good.” Will stood up, excited. “Maybe you can get us out of here.” 

“I don’t wanna feel an itch.” He revealed after hesitating. “I mean… I don’t  _ want _ to. I want to be…” 

“Normal?” The boy looked amused by that. “Aren’t we past that?” 

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Steve added quickly. “I just… don’t want it to be  _ me _ . I mean, I already date a guy, I already-”

“-killed the guy’s dad-” 

Steve blanched. “How do you-?”

“I just added two plus two, Steve.” Will shrugged. “I think it’s great, actually. I know it’s not an universal problem solving strategy, don’t worry, but I do think it’s great.” 

“Yes, of course you wouldn’t.” Steve rubbed his forehead, skin too tight, too hot, too  _ something _ . “I still don’t wanna.”

“I don’t think we have choices in these matters.” Will touched Steve’s hand gently, raising it -- to show the vines growing from his forearms like they were extensions of his veins. 

It felt  _ great _ .

He  _ heard _ something. 

“I really don’t know who or what you are, but I think you do.” Will’s gentle smile was ever reassuring. “And to me you’ll always be Steve, the guy who helped us when we needed, the guy who drove us around Hawkins and spent time with us because he wanted to. You’re a friend.” The boy shrugged. “Whatever else comes along, it doesn’t change that fact. Not ever.” 

It took Steve a while to actually  _ feel _ something, a tug. He shut his eyes and heard Will gasp, but didn’t open them, just moving as he felt it. It felt like a thread, a golden red thread stuck to the fabric of his soul, of his being, loose and unfinished, as if it was covering something, covering a part of him that was  _ aching  _ to come out, to take space and freedom and  _ everything _ . 

So he pulled on it, unraveling whatever it was, and felt himself frow, expand, warmth across all of his skin, every surface hot sun and glittering sea and the dew on wild, green, green, greenest grass, a field of narcissus and the earth breaking open to swallow him whole-

Will touched his forearm after it settled, and Steve finally opened his eyes. From the ground up, a stairway made of tree roots stretched in front of them, leading both up.

“Your eyes are green,” The boy noticed, mesmerized by everything. 

Steve just wanted to get to Billy before that  _ thing _ did. “Let’s get out of here.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Up there, the leaves were whooshing softly with the wind. And Steve, Steve knew exactly where Billy was, because they told him. 

They told him everything he wanted to know, and nothing that he could hear. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Steve knew where to step, where to go. He left Will home, none of them tired even after all the walking; and went straight to the Mayfield residence. 

He knocked at the front door. They were dining peacefully, as if the world hadn’t changed, as if wilderness hadn’t been unleashed inside Hawkins, inside Steve. 

“Steve?” Max looked confused, uncertain if she should open the door. “What are you doing here?” 

Steve knew it was rude, but he didn’t have the time. He didn’t have the space. He gently pushed her aside and entered the house, finding Billy and Susan sitting by the table, eating. 

“Steve?” Billy looked confused, and then defeated. “Look, I’m sorry I left without saying anything, it’s just- why are your eyes green?” He finally looked properly alarmed, and Steve felt it, the smugness, the power. He smiled. 

“Haven’t you heard?” Susan’s eyes widened as Steve’s voice echoed unnaturally around the room. “You kept calling me a princess. Apparently, you weren’t all that far off.”

“Steve, what’s happening?” Max’s eyes were wide, but she had seen things, she had fought things, just like Steve, it was woven into the fabric that made her. He could see it plain as day, the black threads into her red tapestry. 

“Don’t worry, Max,” He could see the thread around Billy, too, so he reached out around it, eyes shut,  _ pulling _ . “It’ll be OK.” 

“What are-?” Billy started to talk, but there was a knot, and Steve had to untie it, so he didn’t hear anything, he just pulled purple and black threads from each other, separating, organizing, unmaking to remake it right this time, like they were meant to be, and the  _ other _ had undone, messed up with fate. He would suffer the consequences in time, he was sure. Fates would never allow it to go unpunished. 

And then, finally,  _ finally _ , Billy’s eyes turned, still eerily blue, still sea-bound like his brothers’, but tinged black, tinged gray. He had seen things, and it showed. 

Nobody could look that deep into the abyss and come back without taking a piece of it along with them. 

It was done. 

Billy fell to his knees and put his arms around Steve’s waist, his head on the other’s belly. Steve just put his hands through Billy’s hair, welcoming to his favorite place. 

“ _ My Queen _ ,” His voice came from the depths of the earth. He could see Susan shaking, propped up only by the wall behind her. 

He paid it no mind, for now. Looked down, carded his fingers through Billy’s hair gently, heart blooming. He was still Steve, still earthbound, but he was  _ also  _ something else,  _ also _ other. Their love for each other remained untouched, though, and  _ that? _ That was the important thing. 

“I missed you too.” Steve said simply, looking directly into Billy’s eyes as soon as he finally looked up to Steve. 

“And here I was calling you princess this whole time.” Billy chuckled and quickly wiped his eyes. 

“I don’t mind it when it comes from you.” Steve was smiling at him, as he should. “But also, you weren’t too far off. It’s not like we’re married in this lifetime.” He shrugged. 

Billy stood up, slowly, and took Steve’s hands. “I can-”

“You can nothing, little brother,” Other Billy came from Billy’s room, but that was  _ nothing _ like Billy; it was pure light, but  _ wrong _ , destructive in a way it had no right to be, because the responsibility to destroy should come with a good dose of empathy that that being did not have. Steve knew this; he learned it with Billy. 

Before Steve could say anything else, though, thunder blared around them and neither Billy was still in the room to be seen. 

“Well, shit.” Steve sighed. That made it all so much more unnecessarily difficult. 

“Where did they go?” Max asked, alarmed, but already on top of it. After her previous experience with the upside down, she never asked about things, she just accepted it. 

“I am not entirely sure.” Steve revealed, rubbing his forehead. “But I think we should gather the party. I… clearly have some things to say.” 

She nodded, running to get her radio from her bedroom. 

Steve then turned to Susan, who cowered against the wall. “What the-” But Steve smiled, the smile of a thousand flowers and warmer suns, and touched her forehead. 

“Sleep. This will soon be all over.” 

She passed out immediately, and Steve carried her to what he assumed was her bedroom. 

_________________________________________________________________________

They all gathered at Will’s place, because Joyce wanted to hear it too, apparently. Hopper was there, but El wasn’t, which made Steve a little alarmed. 

“OK.” He bit his lip. “We’ve seen a lot of weirdness around here, right?”

Hopper huffed. “Understatement of the century, kid.” 

“Yeah, well,” He continued. “Apparently, I’m not  _ normal _ either.” 

Jim immediately took a smoke from his pocket and lit it. Joyce just watched Steve carefully. 

“Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Lucas laughed at that. “What, you’re saying you were Cleopatra in your last life, Steve?” 

Steve opened his palm and, very easily, a nightshade bloomed from his palm. He handed it to Lucas, who was yet to grab his jaw from the floor. 

“I knew it reminded me of something!” Will jumped from his seat, looking at the flower. “Narcissus, stone throne beneath the earth! You’re-”

“Yes. A reincarnation, at least.” Steve answered with a small smile. “I’m still me, though, you gotta know that. I’m just… a little more.”

“And Billy…?” Max asked, obviously worried about her brother. 

“He was mine.” Steve said simply. “In this other life, he was mine. And I was his.” 

Dustin cocked his head, “I still don’t understand-”

“Someone, a very powerful someone, put us in human suits and erased our memories. That person wanted to rule what was never his to rule.” Steve explained. “It was Billy’s. That person is his brother. I know human Billy doesn’t have a brother, but in this other life, he had one, and he was… never content. Never satisfied. So when he saw Billy happy, he wanted to take it away, and did this to me and to him.” 

“And you were a girl.” Max pointed out. “Billy called you his  _ queen _ .” 

“Yes, I was a woman.” Steve agreed. 

“A queen, flowers, realm…” Lucas’s eyes widened. “Were you Persephone?” 

At the name, Steve’s eyes went greener, brighter, and his crown grew another flower. 

“Yeah, that answers it.” Mike was still glowering at Steve. “What about El?”

“El’s a Titaness, Phoebe.” Hopper actually groaned at that. “She is higher up the hierarchy than me and Billy. She tried to intervene in our favor so Billy’s brother got to her, too.” 

“So Billy’s Hades and this brother is… Zeus?” Max completed, flabbergasted. 

“And the Mind Flayer? Crius, also a Titan. That’s why it took El to stop it.” 

Joyce was trying to keep it together amongst the children, but Steve could see how hard it was for her. “Then… then what do we  _ do? _ ”

“You just take care of little Apol-Will. I mean Will.” Steve bit his lip as her eyes widened double fold. “And Mike.”

“So the rest of us could just drop dead?” Lucas rolled his eyes. “Great.” 

Steve smiled. “I just need you to  _ believe.” _

____________________________________________________________________

“I might need  _ your _ help.” He told Will before they left, making the boy startle. 

“Mine?” He asked, confused, and Steve was very aware of the boy’s mom’s eyes on him, worried. 

“Will wasn’t chosen by the Mind Flayer by accident or chance, Joyce. I’m sorry.” He looked sympathetically at the mom. It had to be hard, so hard, to bear a child that would be so coveted, and not in a good way. 

She took a deep breath, shut her eyes. “Just tell me that he will be stronger, able to defend himself. Like ou became after this… change.” 

“For sure. Especially because I don’t think he will ever be alone after that.” Steve smiled and she nodded. 

Joyce smiled. “It’s OK. As long as he can protect himself in ways I could never do.”

“Mom,” Will hugged her. “You did all you could. It’s OK.”

“I did all I could and it wasn’t enough.” Joyce hugged him back and wiped her tears. “But now you will be. And I’ll sleep better knowing that.” 

Will opened that little, timid smile of his and turned to Steve, readying himself. “What should I do?” 

Steve answered his smile with one of his own. “Follow me.”

_____________________________________________________________

The ritual was rather simple, and he allowed both Jonathan and Joyce to come with. They walked for a while, because Steve knew he needed to be in his element, by a forest or a prairie, somewhere with enough plants and breeze and blue sky for him to  _ connect _ . 

The rest was easy. 

He breathed deeply, called upon the trees for help, and then started pulling the threads. One by one, it was unveiled before their eyes -- he heard Joyce’s gasp and knew it was almost done. 

Once it was done, though -- Will became warmth and light, he became  _ exactly _ what he was supposed to be all along. He still looked soft, still looked by himself, just more confident, more comfortable inside his own skin, as if it was a little too tight before. 

Steve knew the feeling. 

Will opened his eyes slowly, memories slotting themselves into his brain. He opened a small smile, and Steve didn’t hesitate before handing him an hyacinth. 

Will turned and beamed at his mother, who was smiling and crying in happiness in that way that only Joyce Byers could. 

He ran to hug them and, a few moments later, came back to Steve. 

“You know I’ll never forget how you pleaded for me and Hyacinth when he went to your realm.” He said and knelt by Steve’s feet. “From that day on you have been my queen. Whatever you need, I am at your call.”

Steve smiled and cupped Will’s face. “I call upon you, but not to Death, Will. We just have to put Zeus back in his place once again.” 

Will beamed at him, a thousand suns on his face. “You can definitely count on me for that.” 

“Good.” He smiled. “Let’s get to work.” 

_____________________________________________________________________________

The ritual was simple: the only rule was that they could not be touching the earth while they did it. So, boat to the lake it was. 

The veils parted easily for their Queen, especially with Apollo right on her heel. When it was done, he could clearly see, right at the other side of the lake; Billy bound to the ground, Other Billy looming over him, angry. 

“Your envy is so big you had to borrow his human appearance?” Steve taunted, cocking his head. 

“Princess,” the Other opened a smirk. 

Steve smiled. “That’s where you had me wrong all the while.” He said, coaching the trees into rooting, blooming,  _ growing. _

“What?” The Other mocked. “You want me to call you a  _ queen? _ ”

“It’s what I am.” Steve pointed out. 

“Only because  _ he kidnapped you _ .” He pointed out to Billy, still unconscious, on the grass. “He  _ stole _ you from your mother,  _ raped _ you,  _ forced _ you into marrying him-”

“He did no such thing.” Steve sighed. “I tried to explain it to you, to Mother, but you wouldn’t  _ listen _ . Still won’t.”

“What, you want me to believe you fell for this… this  _ thing _ ?” He kicked Billy’s inert body in the kidneys. 

“Just because you don’t know love, doesn’t mean your brother can’t.” 

Other Billy’s eyes were wet now. With anger or grief, Steve wasn’t sure. “This is not love! This- this is stockholm syndrome, this-”

“I pity you.” Steve continued, boat sliding carefully towards Zeus. “You thought power would made them love you, but it never did. Hades realized that very early on.” 

“He shouldn’t  _ exist _ . He is an  _ abomination _ .” Another kick. “He lives in shadow and death, parts lovers, he-”

“He holds space for endings.” Steve smiled, seeing as the roots slid slowly towards him. “You don’t understand the laws of the universe.”

“I MAKE THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE!” He bellowed, as always, the pitiful child throwing a tantrum, like he always was. He would never know what his mother saw in that creature. 

“That is where you are wrong. Over and over again.” Finally the trees reached him, breaking the earth - exactly like Billy had for him, once upon a time. 

They pulled him off of the earth, taking his contact with it away, and, with it, his balance, his  _ power.  _ And then, Will,  _ Apollo _ , right behind Steve, struck thunder with sunshine, so hard and bright it was almost  _ bursting _ . 

And  _ that _ ’s when she arrived. 

“Daughter.” Her voice echoed through the lands. She was just like Steve remembered him. 

“Mother.” He greeted her with a head nod. “Can we speak?” 

“Not whilst you side with that  _ beast- _ ” She eyed Billy, and Steve rolled his eyes, once again. 

“He is the man I love-”

“He tricked you!” Her lower lip wobbled. Sadness, grief, anger. The earth got a little colder immediately. “He  _ stole _ you from me!”

“He did not steal me, Mother. You know this.” Steve made his voice as soothing as he could. “He opened a way and I went through. I could have left any time.”

“Then why  _ didn’t _ you?” Demeter was crying, now, but Steve couldn’t. Couldn’t do anything for her. 

She had to accept the truth. 

“Because I didn’t want to.” 

“Lies!” Demeter spat, angry. “You are still under his spell!” She grabbed Billy by the hair, hand on his neck, “I will end it right now!”

The roots struggled, but grabbed Demeter too, lifting her up from the ground. Away from Billy. “Mother.” Steve insisted, hearing her screams and growls of indignation. “I was bored. He showed me a new world, a vast world. A world that  _ changed _ and  _ transformed _ , where things  _ end _ and  _ begin again _ , anew.” 

Demeter sobbed, but stopped struggling. “My love was not enough for you.”

“It always was, Mother.” Steve slid to her, cupping her face with a hand. “It never stopped being.”

“Then  _ why? _ ” The tears that fell from her eyes turned into pink roses on the ground. 

Steve shrugged. “Because there is another kind of love. One that you did not get to know, yet, but maybe will. I have been with him for more than a millenia. He has never cheated or betrayed me, I am not his prisoner. If anything, I am his true queen. He acts like a servant around me still.” They both release a breathless chuckle. “He truly loves me. And we fit.” 

He released her. With her feet on the ground again, the whole earth around them warmed up. Demeter wiped her face with her hands. “He still took you away from me.”

“Cosmic order took me away from you.” Steve corrected her, taking her hands. “You cannot walk into his realm, he is not welcome in yours. And I can’t go back and forth as I please, you know that. It would destroy humanity, and us with it.” 

Demeter’s lower lip wobbled once again. “You were always such a special child. Such a wise, perfect little flower.”

Steve hugged her, making a motion with his hand. Zeus fell to the floor, unconscious, and Billy started finally waking up. “I love you, Mother.”

She nodded, wiping her face once again. “I love you too.”

Looking in her face, Steve smiled. “Will you control him?” He pointed at Other Billy on the floor. 

Demeter nodded again. “Hera will deal with him. Or maybe the Fates.” She smirked. “He broke the rules once again.” 

Steve kissed her forehead. “Good. And you’ll be OK?”

“I will.” Mother sighed. “Be happy, child. As happy as you can be.” 

“I am, Mother.” Billy was stirring on the floor, and once their eyes met, narcissus bloomed all over Steve, from arms to shoulders, crown to feet. “I already am.”

___________________________________________________________________

“Billy!” Steve chastised him, box in his hands. “You can’t just  _ make up _ an MIT degree! That’s not right!”

“I am the King of the Underworld, Steve.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure I know enough about the world to be an engineer.”

“That’s  _ so _ not the point.” Steve rolled his eyes, shutting the box with his tape. 

“Babe,” Billy sneaked his arms around Steve, hugging him from behind. “ _ My Queen, _ ” He whispered against his ear in that way that always made him shudder. 

“Billy…” Steve answered warningly. “Hop will be there any minute now. We don’t want him to catch us like that.” 

Billy huffed, “Fine.” Then he noticed. The open jeans button, which was pretty tight now. “Have you been putting on weight, love?” 

“ _ Yes _ .” Steve rolled his eyes, unhappy about it. “And it’s all your fault!”

“ _ My _ fault? Baby boy, you’re the one who has been ordering pizza like a crazy person all month-”

“Alright, it’s half your fault, half Mother’s fault.” Steve bit his lip. 

“Mother’s-wait.”  _ That _ caught Steve’s attention. “You don’t mean your earthly mother, do you?” 

He shook his head. “No.”

“What did Demeter do?” Billy looked worried, almost desperate for a moment, his whole aura going misty black, eyes grayer and grayer with each heartbeat.

“Nothing bad, just,” Steve held Billy’s hands and guided him to sit down. “I actually think she finally accepted us.”

“What?” The other man looked confused. “How? Why? And what does it have to do with-”

“Billy, I’m pregnant.” 

His mouth opened and shut a bunch of times before he could speak again. “...what?” 

“I’m pregnant.” Steve repeated, wincing. He  _ knew _ Demeter shouldn’t have done it without consulting Billy, he just  _ knew it _ . “Please, say something.” 

“I can’t have children.” Billy said, still incredulous. “I am sterile. Always have been, I-” 

“Apparently, when the Goddess of Fertility wills it, you are not.” Steve shrugged. Then he got Billy’s hand and put it over his lower belly, shutting his eyes as to concentrate and pull the concealment spell off. 

He heard Billy sob. Opened his eyes to him smiling, and crying, happiness too big to be contained in him. 

“I’m going to have a child?” 

Steve smiled, confirming, something clogging his throat. “I have no idea how childbirth is going to be, or where I’ll hide during these nine months, but… yeah.” 

“A little boy?” Billy wiped his face with his free hand. “Or a baby girl?” 

Steve made a sound, half chuckle, half sob. “Both, actually. I can feel them.” 

“ _ Fuck _ .” Billy kissed Steve, and then bowed down on his knees to kiss his belly, tears flowing freely from his eyes. “My kids. They’re really my kids.” 

“ _ Our _ kids.” Steve corrected with a laugh. “But yes. Ours.” 

And Billy, Hades, took Steve’s hand and kissed it, still on his knees.  _ It’s where I belong _ , he had always told Steve, resting his head on Steve’s knee, or with his face between Steve’s legs, or just kissing her hand while saying his goodbyes or hellos. Because he was the King of a Realm, but Steve had always been the Queen of his heart. And, against all odds and bets, against time and what history told them over and over that happened to couples during extended periods of time, they stayed solid, stayed strong, stayed together. And now they were so sweetly rewarded for it, for a love that did nothing but  _ bloom _ . 

“What should I do?” Billy asked then, finally facing Steve again. “To prepare. What should I do?” 

“Well,” Steve shrugged. “We tell our friends. Buy a house and baby-proof it. And then you bring Cerberus in, because I am  _ not _ raising any kids without a dog around.” 

Billy chuckled and, once more, kissed Steve’s belly, the babies underneath his skin. “I owe your mother thanks.” 

Steve smiled. “Yeah, you should keep that until she comes to visit and decides not to leave.” 

The King of the Underworld groaned, and his Queen laughed. 

At last, they would be okay. 


End file.
